NEW MEXICO’S KID

in the latter half of the 19th century was between Anglo newcomers and Hispanos (Southwesterners of Spanish descent). Anglos generally considered Hispanos inferior in mind, body, spirit, political thinking and social status, seldom treating them as true civil partners. Some Americans were skeptical of the Hispanos’ loyalties and thus considered New Mexico Territory a land apart, not deserving of statehood. “An unfortunate but instinctive distrust of New Mexico’s essentially foreign culture In part because Anglos migrated to New Mexico Territory in far smaller numbers than to states such as Texas and California, Hispano leaders continued to dominate territorial politics into the 20th century.